Safe
by Shay Briar
Summary: After seeing his name on the list, Lydia confronts Deputy Parrish to get some answers. It doesn't exactly go as planned. Post 4X05


"What are you?"

Deputy Parrish turned to where Lydia stood in front of his desk, her arms folded and a defiant look on her face.

"Well," he said, "the last time I looked, I was a Beacon Hills Deputy."

She scoffed and said, "They warned us that others would be drawn to Beacon Hills. _You _were drawn to Beacon Hills! What are you? Why are you here?"

He looked taken aback for a second before calmly speaking. "Lydia, I don't have any idea what you're talking about. Are you okay? Do you need me to drive you home?"

"No!"

"No, you're not okay, or no, I shouldn't drive you home?"

"No, I'm fine! It's just –I'm just –I'm fine!" She just out a breath before saying, "You were on the list."

She turned around quickly, her skirt twirling as she moved, and stormed out of the police station. Parrish was left sitting there thoroughly confused. Lydia had always been a little strange, but whenever she was in one of her… _odder moments, _she was usually unaware of what she was doing, almost as if in a trance. This time, she seemed completely coherent and seemingly only wanted answers that he couldn't give.

He turned to where the sheriff had just entered the room with Malia Tate behind him.

"-to the game. Scott got the Benefactor, or an accomplice at least."

"Sheriff!" He looked over at the deputy. "Lydia just ran out of here. She doesn't have her car with her, so I'm going to go look for her. She always manages to find herself in the most dangerous situations."

Sheriff Stilinski nodded and added, "Once you find her, take her to the high school with you. There was an attempted murder."

Parrish agreed while he stood and put on his jacket. Quickly, he exited the station into the parking lot. Lydia was nowhere in sight. He moved to his squad car at the far end of the lot, but as he moved closer, he started to hear noises. He paused to listen for a moment, before slowly moving to the sound, a hand on his gun.

"Jordan Parrish. Jordan Parrish. Jordan Parrish."

As he got closer, he could make out that the words being spoken were his name, over and over again. He was about to draw his gun when he recognized the voice. It was Lydia. He moved around to the side of his squad car, where Lydia sat crouched, tracing the 'E' in Beacon on the side of his car over and over again.

"Jordan Parrish. Jordan Parrish."

"Lydia," he spoke.

"Jordan Parrish. Jordan Parrish. Jordan Parrish," she repeated, tracing the 'E' quicker and quicker.

Parrish moved to crouch beside her. "Lydia," he repeated. When she didn't answer, he put his hand on her shoulder to shake her. The moment he touched her, she stopped. She no longer traced the 'E' on the car or repeated his name over and over again.

"Lydia," he tried one more time.

Slowly, her head turned to face him. Her eyes, which had been blank before, started to fill with recognition. He watched her first take him in and then take in her surroundings.

"What- What was I doing?"

He was silent for a second before saying, "You were tracing the 'E' on my car. And repeating my name."

"Jordan Parrish," she whispered as she tensed and dropped her head down to her hands.

"How do you even know my name?" he asked, suddenly realizing that he'd never told her.

She whispered, "It was on the list."

He shook his head. This was the second time she's talked about a list. Why was she so concerned about it now when just a few minutes ago she'd only been concerned with what Meredith had to tell her? Had she found something in the sheriff's office when he'd left to hand Meredith over.

"Lydia, what list?"

"You were on the list. Why were you on the list? I thought you were normal. Finally normal in my life. Safe. Why aren't you safe? I just want to be safe," she whispered, tears slowly coming to her eyes.

"I'll always keep you safe."

Her shoulders quickly relaxed upon hearing his words. She raised her head to look at him. "But what if what I need to be safe from was you?"

"I promise you Lydia, you will always be safe around me," he promised.

She looked at him for a second, seemingly judging how truthful he was being, before smiling. "Then," she said, "you can finally know the truth since you were on the list."

He looked at her closely and asked, "What truth? What are you talking about?"

"All the voices. All the dead. Always there. Always talking. I'm just like Meredith. I'm losing it, and I just want to scream." She paused for a moment before looking into the distance. "I'm sorry."

And then she screamed.

Parrish immediately covered his ears and whimpered. He hunched over in his crouch and did everything in his power to cover his ears. The scream was louder than any he'd ever heard and went on longer than seemed possible. And suddenly, it stopped.

"It's clear again," she whispered as he raised his head.

"What was that?"

She looked him straight in the eye and said, "I'm a Banshee."

He froze for a second before saying, "And that list you're always talking about? What is it?"

"We're both on it," she informed him. "Seems everyone I know is on it… It's a dead pool, a list of supernaturals to assassinate."

"And I'm on this list?"

"Yes."

"And that's why you don't think I'm safe?"

She gave out a humourless laugh and chided him. "There's someone out there wanting to kill both of us. Neither of us is safe. I don't know if we ever will be." She sighed then said, "I thought for once I hadn't fallen for a kanima or a werewolf. Jackson's gone, and Aiden's dead… I don't want you to be next. I can't lose anyone else… I don't need to add anyone else to the voices…"

"I understand."

She looked at him surprised. "You do?"

He moved toward her and placed a kiss on the corner of her mouth. "Yeah I do. And I promise you Lydia, you'll always be safe. I'll protect you and make sure you're never alone again."

Slowly, she smiled before pressing her lips to his.

"I trust you."

Parrish rose to his feet before he grabbed her hand and helped her up too. "Now, we have to get to the high school. Something's happened."

She looked off into the distance for a second, her head cocked to the side as if listening for a noise, before returning to normal and nodding. She let him open his car door for her and lead her into the passenger seat. When he joined her on the other side, she smiled and then paused.

"E. Why was I tracing an 'E'?"


End file.
